


Last Longer

by patroclustic



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Homophobia, M/M, One Shot, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 19:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16838848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patroclustic/pseuds/patroclustic
Summary: 3 times TJ was caught with photographic evidence proving his lovesick feelings for Cyrus + 1 time Cyrus was caught pining





	Last Longer

i.

There were about three things TJ valued greatly in life – basketball, kids who were a lot nicer than people his age, and Cyrus. Now you could add the latest picture of him and Cyrus to that list. Somehow, a picture of him and his only slightly secretive crush made him feel warmer inside. What other reason would he have to look at Cyrus’s smile right next to his every night before he went to bed? Or to set said picture of his arm wrapped around Cyrus’ shoulder as his wallpaper on his phone? Although Cyrus did once say TJ could be in tune with his sensitive side, but admitting to having a picture that made him feel warmth in his chest and fingers was too far for him. 

The refusal for admission made it that much harder when his phone ‘pinged’, a notification from Instagram popping up on his phone. It wouldn’t have mattered if his phone wasn’t sitting between him and Cyrus as they shared a basket of baby taters and two milkshakes (neither could decide on vanilla or strawberry so why not share one of each?) with the screen exposed to them both. 

Five seconds between Cyrus’ attention turning the the sound switching to the realization switching to Cyrus looking up at him went much slower and much more dramatic than it should have. It had TJ’s brain rolling over in embarrassment, wishing he had opted to leave his phone his pocket. Lesson for next time. 

“You have us as your lock screen?” Cyrus asked, thankfully getting rid of the silent air. It didn’t get rid of TJ’s embarrassed look on his face. To try to hide that expression, he snatched his phone, pretending to be interested in the DM he got on a group chat. It could give him a few more moments to fix his expression up. 

With a nonchalant nod, TJ looks up. “Yeah. It’s just a picture. Had to commemorate us marking off ‘ride a roller coaster’ on your list somehow – even if I think a kids’ rollercoaster is still cheating.” Here comes the inevitable defense that TJ loved to bait. 

Just as he guessed, the excuse came. Unfortunately, it didn’t come without a push at the main topic of hand. “I never defended that it had to be one with half a dozen insane loops! I’ll leave those to you and Buffy,” Cyrus began, eyes trailing down TJ as if it would somehow let him see the screen of the phone again. “The picture was commemorating that. The lock screen isn’t.”

A moment passed with TJ purposely avoiding replying to that. In fact, he stuffed one or two more baby taters in his mouth than was appropriate just to get out of replying to that. Cyrus caught on and filled the air. 

“I love it! Not even Buffy or Andi have me as their wallpaper. You still need to send me that picture. We look good in it… and every other picture with us together. We’re a very photogenic pair, you know.” 

Now the two were back to their casual feel with TJ pulling out his phone to send the selfie to Cyrus – along with about another dozen pictures he had yet to send. 

At least Cyrus still didn’t know that TJ looked at that picture last thing before bed every night, just like TJ didn’t know Cyrus would be happily calling his mom about this as soon as they finished their meal. 

ii.

A kick to his ankle brought TJ out of his state of concentration and into the state of annoyance. “Reed? What the hell?” TJ mumbled, phone falling to his side. Cyrus was still dancing on the stage in front of them along with a few other people TJ didn’t talk to enough to remember the names off. As far as his concern went, the only person that mattered in this dance recital was Cyrus It didn’t matter that he wasn’t one with any lead or solo dance. 

“Had to make sure you were still there, TJ. Thought you was going to be frozen forever just staring at Cyrus. The last time I saw you that focused, you was doing math homework.” The dig was enough to make TJ swing his elbow back to jab Reed’s leg. A total low blow even if Reed wasn’t in on his dyscalculia. 

Before he could retort, the beat of the music changed and dragged TJ’s attention right back in. He made sure he was still kneeling just right, getting the right angle to follow Cyrus’ every movement. If he didn’t get it all on video, Cyrus would be disappointed. TJ did have the job of videographer for the night since Andi and Buffy couldn’t make it to Cyrus’ recital. 

“It’s called being a good friend. Maybe you’d want to give it a shot some time? I could show you the ropes,” TJ retorted, slipping into their usual playful teasing. No matter how serious the tone in the back of his throat, their insults hardly ever slipped into actual malice territory.

Reed laughed a little too loudly, earning them glares from the parents to the left and the right of them. Right. They were still at Cyrus’ recital. He had to be a little more quiet. That was more reason to lean closer to TJ and mess with him even more. “Last time you took pictures for Lester, they were all blurry. And your thumb was in half of them! What makes Cyrus get special treatment?”

The assumptions Reed had were confirmed when TJ’s shoulders shuddered, his already narrowed eyes somehow getting smaller still. Despite TJ being open about his sexuality – something that Cyrus had admitted he was jealous of – he wasn’t open about his crush. Having a thing for Cyrus Goodman was the furthest end of the spectrum away from to-be-ashamed-of territory so that isn’t what kept him from gushing about Cyrus’ aching smile or the hilarious things he said. Word slips easily among friends and that’s exactly why TJ figured it was better to keep his lips sealed on this one. It was enough to go on about his lovesick feelings alone in his head. 

Before TJ felt like he would erupt, he had to take a deep breath and stare up at Cyrus again. “Maybe Lester will get special treatment if he quits hogging your bed every time we stay the night.”

“Or maybe Lester would get the treatment if you had a crush on him like you do Cyrus.”

TJ’s heart pauses, not expecting that claim. Was he that obvious with his crush? The nicknames, dopey look on his face whenever he was around Cyrus, and the excessive use of heart emojis when they talked might be a little telling. 

“I don’t have a crush on Cy-“

“Shut up, TJ. Yes, you do. If you want to lie about having a crush on your golden boy, you should really change his name from ‘muffin’ in your phone,” Reed teased, giving another shove to TJ’s shoulder. 

The Spoon, once again. TJ was next to Cyrus, sitting just a little too close with their knees bumped against each other and his arm not so slyly stretched across the bench behind the other boy. His phone was in the middle, leaning against the wall to make the video easier for them to watch. “I look better on stage than I thought I did!” Cyrus exclaimed as soon as he came into the picture. TJ snorted – not that he was disagreeing with that claim.

Buffy and Andi ignored the comment, the two girls sitting across from the boys. A few seconds of the video passed before either had anything to say. It wasn’t even about Cyrus’ impressive (okay, mediocre) dance moves. “So – why isn’t there any sound? Did you turn the volume up?” Buffy asked, turning from the bright screen to TJ just to give him an unimpressed look. 

“The volume messed up. Besides, it’s about sight, not sound here. Do you need music to hear Cyrus dance?” TJ fired back. 

Thank god Reed had helped him delete the sound on that video. The four of them gathered around watching this video while TJ and Reed talk about his crush behind the camera was the last way he wanted Cyrus to find out. 

iii.

Three pictures were missing. TJ had photos of his friends on his wall right over his bed. Just a couple of polaroids which surprised most people. Apparently the jock type like him wouldn’t have something so sentimental overtop his bed. Contrary to that stereotype, TJ did. Two pictures of Reed, two of Lester, even one with Andi and Buffy (only because Cyrus was on it). The three that were missing were ones with Cyrus. Someone else had to have taken them down because TJ wouldn’t leave the others up and not those. 

“Mom!” TJ headed into the kitchen where he had passed her already when he came home. Nobody else was home since his dad was still at work and his little sister was at a friend’s house. Nobody else could have touched it while he was at school. “Did you take anything from my room?”

The stack of bills in front of his mom were ignored as she dropped her glasses on top of the stack, looking at TJ with a frown. That frown. The look that told TJ something was up. The only times he saw it were when he came home with bad grades, when he fessed up for the gun situation, and when his little sister threw tantrums when relatives visited. 

“The pictures of your friend? I threw them out. I don’t think you should hang out with that kid anymore.”

Despite everything in his head telling him to stay level headed, TJ shot a glare at his mom, not sure what brought this about. His parents loved Cyrus. The fact that he was hanging around someone that didn’t depend on trouble for entertainment had been a new awakening for them. 

TJ crossed his arms, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach. He wasn’t going to whine about the fact he lost those photos when he could snap new ones. That would be a losing fight. There wasn’t a chance he would admit defeat about hanging out with Cyrus. “I’m not going to stop being friends with him. You like him! I would’ve known if he did something scandalous enough to make you do that.”

His mom just sighed, shaking her head as if he was clueless to an answer that should be obvious. He wasn’t stupid despite the school problems he had on occasion. It didn’t make him a moron, something he was assured of many times by Cyrus and even Buffy. So why was she giving him that treatment? “It’s not what he did. It’s you, TJ. Diana told me about your feelings for him. I want this to stop before it gets too far.”

Oh.

Cyrus didn’t do something monumentally stupid to betray his parent’s trust. TJ did. It was something he couldn’t stop by just ignoring Cyrus and it stung. It stung in his chest and made his eyes prick with tears. Somehow Reed’s mom must have find out through Reed and now his mom knew. This was a prime example of why he didn’t share information on who he likes. 

“Before it gets too far? Like what? I might date him? It’s already too far. If this is about me liking guys, it’s not just Cyrus. I like guys, period. Making me forget him is just going to make me find another boy I like.”

“Don’t say that. You just need to spend more time with girls. You’re always around the basketball team or your few friends. If you would hang out with girls more, you would understand what it’s actually like to have feelings for someone,” his mom argued. She had a look painted on her face that looked too much like pity. Pity for the fact he didn’t actually know the difference between friends and a crush. 

TJ swallowed thickly, the heel of his hand coming up to his eyes. If he broke down into hysterics in front of her, It wouldn’t help his point. It would make things seem worse. Gay and unstable? He didn’t need to lose any power he had in this argument. “I see the girls’ basketball team a lot now, you know. If you really want to know, anyway, go ask Reed. He knows I realized I was gay even before I met Cyrus. I came out to him awhile ago.”

Practically the only people left to find out about his sexuality were his parents and with how everyone else took it so well, he expected them to take it well, too. Some of the parents of kids at the gym he worked at even knew, assuming by how he clung onto Cyrus when he would be around and they came to pick up their kids.

The words leaving his mouth weren’t ones she wanted to hear, though. “You’re not gay!” she shouted, the label leaving her mouth like it tasted bad on her tongue. It only did more to provoke the waterworks in the corners of his eyes, rubbing more aggressively to make it stop. “We’ll talk about this more when your dad gets home from work. Don’t expect him to be on your side. He’s not going to be happy with having a fag for a son either.”

Now that was enough to break out the actual tears, not fighting it anymore. The only response his mom got was when he walked out the front door and slammed it shut, making sure it would be loud enough to make her more upset. 

Leaving in the middle of a fight without permission would get him into more trouble later. TJ knew this. He could handle getting into trouble for some of his careless actions, such as when he and his friends egged the neighbor’s car. That was different than being told something about him was wrong. 

Having nowhere else to turn, TJ pulled out his phone as he walked towards the sidewalk, already having a destination in mind and a person in mind. It was hard to read the screen when his vision was blurred by the tears, but it was easy to find Cyrus. It was the last person on his call list, after all. 

As soon as the ringing stopped (only after fifteen painful seconds), TJ didn’t give Cyrus anytime for a greeting. “Have some time to meet me at the park, Underdog?”

The pain in his voice was obvious and he could tell Cyrus picked up on it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be asking a sudden influx of questions. Are you okay? Is something wrong? Teej, what happened?

He wasn’t okay. At least Cyrus could make it feel close to okay for a few hours. 

iv.

“TJ. TJ. TJ. Us. Food. TJ. Andi. TJ. Why is your Instagram only your boyfriend? It’s… gross! You guys are a worse couple than Andi and Jonah were!” Buffy complained, scrolling through all of Cyrus’ pictures. When she stopped on another picture of TJ and read the caption that was sickening in her opinion, she groaned in defeat. The phone was slid back over to Cyrus. 

The complaining wasn’t going to make him ashamed. In fact, he picked up the phone and looked at the last picture Buffy was looking at. It was a caught off guard picture of TJ with his glasses on, not even noticing the camera and poking his tongue out while he focused on a stack of homework. It was Cyrus’ absolute favorite. The caption even said that. 

Next on his feed was another picture of TJ with him kissing Cyrus’ cheek, captioned ‘TJ Smitten’. Alright, maybe he did post a lot of his boyfriend. 

Who could blame him?

“If you go to his feed, it’s just as bad. Maybe even worse,” Andi said with her own phone in her hands and of course, on the screen was TJ’s Instagram. They did become that cringy couple that was overly obsessed with each other in just a matter of seven months of dating – which was long enough for the cringe factor, right?

Even if the pictures started popping up after one month.

**Author's Note:**

> Please drop some requests for me? And even double pretty please leave some critiques!


End file.
